The Visitor
by Serendipity Cullen
Summary: One-shot. A 13X01 Jolex drabble. Alex has a visitor. [All characters belong to Grey's Anatomy/Shonda Rhimes]


The Visitor

"Dr. Karev, you have another visitor."

Alex slowly raised his head, wincing at the crick developing in his neck. "Don't call me that," he replied, his voice dry as he raised from the steel bench.

"May we have some privacy?" a quiet, timid voice asked.

The older man stiffened as he recognized the voice immediately. "I have nothing else to say," he spat as the door to the holding cell closed. His dark eyes bore into her as he considered calling for the guard to return and escort Jo from the building.

The distraught brunette took a deep, shaky breath. "You've said enough," she said quietly, looking down and toying with her hands.

Alex stared at her as she shifted from foot to foot and grasped, then ungrasped, her fingers. "What do you want, Jo?" he pressed, annoyance filling his core. "I've got a lot to deal with, and..."

"You-You don't get to say that," the younger woman stammered, finally meeting his gaze.

"Don't get to say what?"

"M-My name," Jo found her strength, her voice elevating. "After tonight, you don't get to say my name." He went mute, swallowing hard as she took a step closer to the cell. "Since...since you couldn't listen to me earlier, I-I've come to say-say my piece..."

"You can spare me the details," the surgeon pushed away from the bars, backing away from her until his back pressed against the wall of the small cell. "Deluca should be fine, so I hope you two are happy."

"I didn't screw Deluca!" The words exploded from her beaten down frame.

His face went blank as Alex stared at her. "Wh-What?"

"That has your attention, doesn't it?" she spat bitterly, releasing her hands and beginning to pace. "My whole life...I've messed things up. Maybe it was the way I was raised." He visibly winced as she flung his words back at him. Jo took a breath, finding her strength in finally being able to speak. "It's always been my fault, whatever happened in life. I was in multiple foster homes because I couldn't get along with anyone. I had to live in my car because I messed up every family who tried to take me in. My hu-" She stopped, catching herself before the previous shots made her spill her secret once again. "My fight with Steph, was my fault. I'm used to messing things up. I do it a lot, and I can take it. But...tonight I didn't mess things up. You did."

The man's frown deepened as she stopped pacing and faced him. "Is there a point to this? I messed up, I know I did, alright?! I thought..."

"I know what you thought," Jo cut him off, taking a step closer to the cell. "You didn't _listen_ , Alex. You-You never listen." Her fingers wrapped around the bars as she looked to the floor. "You didn't listen to him...you didn't listen to me..."

"Jo," he spoke her name quietly this time, stepping closer to her. "I saw...he was...I just thought..."

A tear rolled down her cheek, but she brushed it away quickly. Stubbornly. "And you think so little of me, my love, that you think..." The words caught in her throat, but she pushed away the pain and said what he needed to hear. "You think I can just throw you aside and sleep with someone else... You-You think that little of me..."

"Jo, please," Alex pleaded, approaching the bars and putting his hands over hers. "I saw him...on top of you...and I just...I lost it, okay? It made me crazy! I-I didn't even know what I was doing, I just reacted! I had to get him off of you..."

The brunette made a soft sound in the back of her throat as her eyes settled on the fingers that covered hers. The swollen, red, blood stained fingers of the man she loved.

Boy, could she pick them. It was clear that something in her core was drawn to these bad boys. Everyone thought it was romantic, having your boyfriend beat a guy to a pulp for you, but it wasn't romantic. It wasn't romantic at all. It was gut wrenching.

It was also a memory she'd never, ever forget. A memory she knew all too well.

Jo looked to him, seeing the pain and regret in his eyes. Alex would have plenty to deal with in the upcoming days-possible charges, jail time, his license revoked. Then, of course, there would be anger management and counseling. A few years probation. The consequences were piling up as the minutes ticked by, but for the domestic violence victim, one thing was clear. She could never tell Alex her secret. Another tear rolled down her cheek, landing on his bruised knuckle. "I just wanted you to know the truth."

"That's it?" the older man choked out as she stepped away from him, withdrawing her hands from his.

"Guard."

"Jo! Jo, don't go! I'm sorry, okay?!"

The young woman turned back, looking at him with a deep sadness in her eyes. "I know you are, Alex." Leaving him in that cell was the hardest thing she ever had to do.


End file.
